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'2 Sheets-Sha e; 1.. R. R. OSGOOD. Excavating and Dredging Machine.

No. 226,874. Patented April 2?, i880.

: z I Q 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R.-R. oseodn. Excavating and Dredging Machine.

fle 25% j zvmwahrx UNITED ST TES PATENT Fr es."

RALPH n. osGooD, or TROY, NEW YORK.

'sxcAvArme nnual-meme MACHlNE.

srncrrrcn'r'x on forming part of Letters Patent No. 226,874,

Application filed November 6, 1879.

, To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH-R. OSGOOD, of Troy, county of Rensselaerg and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Excavators or Dredges; of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact" Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the I dipper or scoop mounted without a handle; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view, indicating the construction and arrangement of the steam, water, or lubricating-fluid ejectors.

Like letters in all the figures, wherever they occur, indicate corresponding parts.

My invention has, relation to that class of .2 5 machines employed .for the purpose of excathe water, which machines are. ordinarily devatin g or dredging, either upon the land or in nominated excavators or dredges, the ob-' ject of theinvention being to simplify and p cheapen the construction; to increase the effective working power, and thus the capacity, of the machine; to augmentthe ease with which the machine may be handled or operated at different stages of the'work, render it.

3 5 less liable to get out of order than heretofore,

and to better adapt it for use upon soft earth,

as in swamps, marshes, -&c. To accomplish.

ting machine be employed the material would all of this the invention involves certain new and useful-arrangements-or-. n. nations of eration, all of which will be hereinafter first fully described, and then pointed curt in the clainis.- r y In the figures of the drawings chosen toib' 4o parts and peculiarities of constrction and op- 5 lustrate the principles of the inventionthe.

- improved machine is shown as mounted upon 7 a platform, such as is suitable for use upon soft ground; but, as will hereinafterappear, the style or form of the platform is not a material 5o feature of the invention, since this may bechine, instead of the, machine tracks or dated 5. 3m 2'7, 1880.

changed at pleasure to correspond with the kind of work which is to be accomplished. It

should, of course, be firmly and well built,

capable of solidly supporting the surmounting machinery and withstanding the various strains towhich-it may be subjected.

alt has not been deemed necessary to indicate any particularconstruction of the platform; but for use upon soft ground the bottom there- 'of may be supposed. to be plain and. smooth,

so that it maybe the more easily moved along.

The. platform A supports all the working parts of .the machine, and rests directly upon the ground or surface of the material to be excavated. The dipper or scoop B projects over one end, and astheexc'avation progresses the entire machine is drawn. backwardhy use of suitable anchors and. drawing-cables in the rear. The cables may be strained and the machine moved by its own engine in a manner readily understood. The scoop is filled by he ing drawn toward the-machine.

Such being the manner of itsoperation, it

will be observed that the machine moves over the material to lie-excavated, and the bank (which is the surface cut) follows up the ma- 7 follow up the bank.-

being made to The'operation of the old style of dredge or excavator upon soft ground presentspractical difficulties, for thereaso'n that itmust first out the channel in which torest, and whenlocated.

therein'its withdrawal necessitates a dismounting of the apparatus and removal by parts. Upon the bottom. of a channel so cut the use of cars to carry away the material is out of the question; and if the old style of forward-cuthave to be dumped- 'upon the margin of the cut, where it would be liable to settle back lubricating fluid through the platform, for

which purpose I provide suitable pipes, as at 2 4 aao.s1

ply. It is found that if;these pipes open di-- rectly through the floor the fluid will. only 5 efl'eet the blowing-out of a pocket beneath :them, .which accomplishes'only a limited I amount of good in the direction sought. For

this reason-it will be found adv'isableto locate 'the discharge-orifices atthe sides of the con 10 ductors; and I therefore prefer to cut. a channel or groove, as at b,'in the under surface of the platform, to carry the discharge ends of pipes 11 into such channel, and to cut the orifices in the sides of the pipe sections or'caps, as plainly shown. This arrangement afl'ords a means of projecting the lubricating fluid thoroughly between the two surfaces of contact, and when they are so lubricated the movement of themachine is a comparatively easy matter.

The bucket, scoop, or dipper B, being made I of metal, is of considerable weight, and hence,

' by its own gravity, will assume'its proper cut ting position upon the bank wheneverlowered '2 5 down for work. It is supported by two chains or cables, 0 and D the one 0, being attached near the rear end, the othenb both being so connected with, the hoistingdrums that they maybe moved independently or simultaneously, for reasons which will herein'afterappear. These two chains or cables arepreferably suspended from a boom, E, Y which possesses many advantages over the oldform of. crane and its attendant weighty cranepost and general bulky unwieldy nature; The boommay be of the form and general construction indicated in previous patents granted to me, or it-may be of any approved pattern suitable for the purpose. The turn-table, with its superposed directing-sheaves, may be of the style indicated in my patent of October 23, 187 7, No. 196,378,.by use of which .I am enabled to turn the boom from side to side, employing only the hoisting-chains, and thus obviating the necessity of otherexpensive at} tachments for that purpose...

. The. presence of the dipper-handle;(shown I in Fig. 1) is not essential to the successful op:

eration of the machineg though for some puradvisable, since it will serve, in a measure,'to

steady the dipper in its movements, and might in some cases, by clamping it, as pointed out 1n previous patents to me,assist in starting the dipper into its'work. a

per is pulled into the bank-by the independ- ,near the mouth,

poses and in some localities its use might be 'if desired, when, of course, the lubricating The dipper being'dropped down to its working position, its snout is canted toward the ent pulling-chain F drawing it always, for the purpose, in a direction toward the machine.-

During this pulling, by holding the hoistingchains and D taut the dipper may be madeto swing in the arc of acircle the center of.

the chain F is nnclutched, and chains D and 0 made to do the hoisting, care being taken not to run Q much more rapidlyv than D, and the pulling-chain beingallowed to follow freely withthe upward movemen t'of the dipper.

31A. the hoisting might, under certain circumstances, be done by the chain D alone {but it is better to run bothhoisting-chains together, since, when elevated, the chain 0 operates as a dumping-chain, and must first be drawn taut.

When. sufiieiently elevated the I dipper is which is in the boom-sheaves from which these swung around, as desired by means of chain C orD, or otherwise, and dumped by simply elevating the rear end through the medium of chain 0,.after which it may be again returned to its working position on the bank.

"The dipper arranged and operating in this way requires no bot-tom door or lid, and is thus less expensive than the usual forms of dippers'.

The pulling-chain, being independent of the hoisting-chains, may be graduatedin weight and strength for its particular part of the work, as also may the hoisting .-.chains, and this greatly in advantage over the former styles, wherein the hoisting and working chains were identical.

In the matter of repairs this construction of machine afl'ords many facilities over previous forms, aswill be apparent from aconsidcra tion of its simplicity.

The ordinary forms of spuds may be applied for holding the improved machine against the strain required to force the dipper into the bank; but, if desired, this strain may be coun- IIO teracted by leaving the anchor-chains in place during the excavating, since the strain is always in a direction from the anchorage, and,

this 'affords a convenient means of holding the machine.

The machine may be mounted upon a track,

contrivan'ces will be of no avail.

It isregarded as practically essential that the dipper should be exposed to view during theworking of the machine, in order that theoperating'chains' maybe manipulated at the proper time and in proper relative situations, so that for under-water excavators or dredges the before-mentioned principles of operation are not 'so readily applicable. 1 It sometimes occurs, however, that the dipper must be hidden fromview, and when this occurs any readily distinguishable mark or objec ay be placed upon the chains 0 and D to mdicatethe'ir relative lengths, by which the cant of the dipper can be easily determined.

. The two chains and D might be. united byl a short coupling-chain of suchlength as to insure their simultaneous movement after either has moved a certain distance; and with these appliances the operation of the dipper under water may be easily continued, in view of which it is not intended to restrict the promi nent principles of the invention to a machine mounted upon a single platform or any supro port whereon its numerous characteristics will I recommend it for use.

' 'Thechafm's or cables may, of course, be bent upon pulleys in theusual way for increasing theworking power, and the details of con- !5 struction and mounting the requisite attach ments should be such as to insure the essential strength and durability of the several parts.' 3

The machine being made to rest upon the material to be cut, the carrying-cars may be run along upon the natural surface of the ground upon either side of the excavator, and are thus not confined to the channel cut out, which is not the case with previous methods 2 5 of cutting and delivery,

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as'new, and desire to secure by' Letters Patent, isa 1. In a'machine of the character herein o specified, the combination, with the floor or platform, of an underlying steam' or Water pipe adapted to conduct the lubricating fluid U into contact with the surface upon which the machine is made to rest, substantially as and,

5.;for the purposes set forth.

' 2.-In a machine pf the character herein specified, thecombiliation, with the floor or platform, of a steam or water pipe section 10- g cated with-in a suitable recess in the under 0 side of said platform and adapted toco'nduet the lubricating fluid into contact with the surface upomwhich the machine is madeto rest,

substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

3. Ina machine of thecharacter herein 5 specified, the combination, with the;flo or or i platform, of a steam orwaterpipe section or cap located within a suitable-recess in the undersideof the platform, thcsaid'section or .cap having side perforations and adapted to.

conduct the ubricating fluid into contactwith the surface-u on which the machine is made to rest, substantially as shown and described.

4. Theherein-describedexcavator,composed essentially of a platform or support, the operating machinery mounted thereon and mom- L5 5 ble therewith, and the dipper or scoop swung therefrom in independen tly-operatih g supporting-chains, and dragged into the bank in a direction toward the movable platform by a dragging orpulling chain leading from the platform, substantially as shown and described. 7

5. In an excavatorof the character herein specified, the combination of the dipper and its two attached independently-movin g hoist ing-chains, by which its working. position on the bank may \be controlled, the pulling or dragging chain independent of said hoistingehains, and the swinging boom or crane, all mountedupon and movable with the movable platform A, substantially as and for the pur- 7o poses'set forth.

6. In an excavator of the character herein specified, the combination, with the dipper and its two attached independently-moving hoist- --ing-ch'ains, of the pulling or dragging chain, independent of -said hoisting-chains, su'bstair tially as set forth. a 7. In an excavator of the character herein specified, the combination of the platform, the swinging boom, the hoisting-chains. the swingof said hoisting-chains, substantially as shown and described.

8. In an excavator of thecharacter herein specified, the combination-of the backwardly-- sliding platform, the swinging boom, the independent hoisting-chains, the swinging dipper, and the independent pulling-chain, adapted to draw the dipper into the bank in ajdi= rection toward the platform, substantially as shown anddescribcd.

In testimony that I claim" the foregoing I have hereunto set my'hand in the presence of two witnesses. v

. RAIalEfH R. OSGOOD.

Witnesses: S. W. HOLQOMB,

'iWo 'rn Oseoon.

8o in g dipper, and the pulling-chain, independent 

